Spiral Galaxy NGC 2997

This is a three-colour composite of the spiral galaxy NGC 2997 in the southern constellation Antlia (The Air Pump), obtained with the VLT UT1 and FORS1 in the morning of March 5, 1999. It is based on three exposures in V (green; 3 min; image quality 0.35 arcsec), R (red; 3 min; 0.34 arcsec) and I (near-infrared; 5 min; 0.25 arcsec) bands, with the Moon above the horizon. The field measures 3.4 x 3.4 arcmin 2 or, at the distance of the galaxy (about 55 million light-years), 55,000 x 55,000 light-years. FORS1 was operated in high-resolution imaging mode ; the pixel size was 0.1 arsec.